Batgirl: The Tally
by Arkham Crusader
Summary: Batgirl goes undercover to unravel the truth about a mysterious vanishing act of Gotham women
1. Chapter 1

L

By Jacob Shada

Barbara read the headlines, and couldn't help but smile.

BATGIRL DELIVERS NOTORIOUS TALLY MARK KILLER TO GCPD

Indeed, Batgirl was one of Gotham's heroes. But it wasn't without cost.

R…

"Well?" Barbara said, brushing aside her red hair. Her blue eyes shimmered like the piles of broken glass in Gotham's streets. A father had never been as amazed as Jim was in that moment. There before him stood his stunning daughter, the spitting image of her mother, wearing her mother's favorite black dress with dark yellow lining her sleeves.

"Barb…" Jim stammered.

"That bad, huh?" Barbara smiled that smile that drove Dick Grayson wild, and for once, in a way Jim struggled to accept, he understood why.

"N...No...Barbara…" Jim shakily readied his camera, and clicked. The photo blurred.

"Daddy, you have to stay still to take a photograph," Barbara teased, gesturing to the many photos of her on the mantle. "I know you know how."

Jim tried again.

Blurred again.

Barbara cringed. "We'll get some pictures at the dance." She sighed.

"Barbara? Do you have them?" Jim asked.

"Yes, dad, I have the tazer, collapsible batons, and the pepper spray all in my purse."

Jim smiled.

"But did you think to get me some sort of universal antidote pill or some random robotic shark repellent?" Barbara glared inquisitevly.

Jim was silent.

"Gonna need that antidote pill if somebody gets funky with the punch." Barbara said. "I love you, daddy." She said as she hugged him. Her phone buzzed.

"Dad...you gotta let go now...Dick is outside...Dad…" Barbara groaned.

"I love you, baby girl…" He said as he squeezed tighter.

Finally, he let go, and her hair flowed so elegantly behind her as she went to the door.

"Barbara?" Jim sighed.

Barb turned around, eyes still glimmering.

"Don't drink the punch."

Barbara walked out to the limo, and her smile vanished.

"Barbara, this can't be a good idea." Dick whispered.

"Living in Gotham can't be a good idea, Dick. We get him off the streets though, and we could make it a better idea." Barbara kept a blank face.

"You could die. You don't know when he'll single you out, or when something can go wrong." He said firmly.

She turned to face him, looking into his eyes. "Has that ever stopped you?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Barbara…" Dick's eyes were pleading, his lips quivering at the thought. Barbara knew what he was afraid of. Barbara knew what he'd been through. All of the losses. All the blood running from Haley's Circus.

Barbara leaned in and kissed him. "Do you feel any better now?"

"Physically." Dick said, lightly kissing back.

A while in the silence under the moonlight, and the limo pulled up to the school. "Presenting, charming Homecoming King Dick Grayson! And on his arm, the stunning Homecoming Queen...Barbara Gordon!" The announcer boomed, and the crowd around them cheered. All the roars of happiness and the brilliant flashes of cameras made Barbara forget for a moment that they were here to work, not mingle with the other students of Gotham University.

"Do be careful, Ms. Gordon." Alfred warned, sharing in Dick's concerns.

"I will, Alfred. Thank you for everything." She smiled warmly as Dick closed the door.

They hadn't discussed the plan with Bruce. They knew he would never allow it. So far as he would know, what would happen tonight would be a freak event...or at least, that's what they were hoping he would think.

A quick few sprays of Barbara's new perfume, and they walked the red carpet to enter the dance.

"Damn. It works…" Dick said, holding his head up, despite the fear of the inevitable.

Barbara tried to ignore the several looks of adoration she was being given by every man in the room. She could see every man's face...finally, she saw his face…

"He's here. Just a few steps from the DJ's booth." Barbara said to Dick, keeping her smile as so to keep cover.

"Would you forgive me for saying that I wish he wasn't?" Dick asked, keeping the same false face as Barbara.

"You know how important this is. There is no other way." Barbara casually let go of Dick's hand, and Dick gestured toward the punch bowl. Barbara nodded.

"Hey, Barb?" Dick said, eyes welling.

"Yes?"

"I...I love you…"

"I love you too…"

They nodded at each other, and went their separate ways.


	3. Chapter 3

As Barbara worked the crowd, she could feel the cold eyes of a monster closing in on her. She was rehearsing her scream in her head. That is, if he decided not to drug her and just be direct about it.

Closer and closer he lurked, and harder and harder she pretended not to see him until she was sure that he was convinced of her ignorance.

And now, it was time to seal the deal.

Dick watched from across the room, making sure the target didn't hurt any innocent people on his way to Barbara. This man was unpredictable, and was one of the few that could make even Batman jump. Dick winced at the thought of all the man had done...at how he was in a position now to do it to Barbara…

Barbara squeezed herself through the rest of the massive crowd, and opened up the back door, letting in a bit of that moonlight.

The target followed.

Even in his anxiety, Dick couldn't help but admire the genius of his sweetheart. She claimed to have gotten it from her mother, but sadly, that could never be confirmed. Barbara Kean was dead, after all.

It was such a simple way to lure him out. A hypersexual psychopath sees a gorgeous woman like Barbara in a dress like that, whose perfume is laced with Poison Ivy's hypnotic pheromones? Foolproof. Although, still, Dick really wished he hadn't taken the bait.

Out in one of the patios of Gotham University, Barbara took in what few stars she could see above Gotham. As a little girl, she thought of them as angels, watching over the good people within Gotham City. But now, the guardian of the city didn't have a halo or harp. He had a cape and cowl.

"Rough night already, Ms. Gordon?" The voice said. Smooth as silk...but as piercing as the tip of the knife poking into her back.

"It could be worse." Barbara said, half jokingly as the knife dug in a little more.

"Don't...don't turn around…" He commanded as he slipped a rag over Barbara's face, as Dick watched, sweating and sticking in the shadows nearby.

In a few moments, Barbara's arms dropped down, and the man slowly lowered her to the ground, tying her hands and feet. Then, in that instant, he snapped his head up, seemingly alarmed, paranoid that someone had seen him.

His eyes darted around, and he scratched the space beneath his eye with a tally mark brutally engraved on it.

Target confirmed, Dick thought…

Victor Zsasz...


	4. Chapter 4

The lighting in the building was faint, and later through the night as the moon started to drift away, nonexistent.

Barbara awakened the same way a prisoner of Arkham would. Confused, and surrounded by hysterical screaming. All pleading the same, too.

"Let me out! Please! Let me out!"

"Please...somebody help us!"

The screaming and crying stopped when the giant metal door screeched open, and the dim silhouette of a man walked eerily forward. What light there was left coming from the doorway he'd entered from made his eyes gleam, likewise his knife, and the tally marks all over his skin.

Even having seen Victor Zsasz before, Barbara's spine chilled, almost as much as the chains that bound her arms and legs to the woman next to her.

Without word nor hesitation, Zsasz lifted a scrawny young woman to her feet after he unlocked her bonds.

"My god…" Barbara whispered to herself seeing the woman. With messy black hair...or maybe brown...and an unnatural thinness...Barbara saw what was going on...he was starving them...keeping them unkempt...torturing them…

"Please! No! Please!" The woman begged, trying to break free from Zsasz's grip. She didn't succeed.

Barbara couldn't see his lips move but he could hear his cold, uncaring voice warning the room.

"Don't worry, zombies...Not all of you will die...merely those I deem meaningless...which does happen to be a lot of you...but some will survive...now I suppose you should start asking yourselves…"Do...I...matter…?" Do you?" He said, pulling the woman even closer to his tally covered face, ignoring her quivering.

"Do...you...matter…?" Zsasz whispered, dragging the knife across the woman's throat. Her cries turned to chokes, and gags, and finally...just the sound of drops of blood hitting the floor.

However, there was not the sound of her body dropping.

But there was the shadow of Zsasz lifting the dead woman's arm and making it wave goodbye to her fellow captives as he dragged her away.

Barbara turned her head and vomited a little, just barely missing the woman next to her with it.

Maybe Dick had been right.

Maybe this had been a bad idea.


	5. Chapter 5

"This is Vicki Vale, live for GCN 52. A short while ago, the Batsignal flashed in the clouds above the GCPD, and we have confirmation that our local vigilante, Batman, has, as always, answered the call. Who knows what's going on in Gotham City tonight? More information when we have it, I'm Vicki Vale. Back to you, Jack."

As always, Batman made his appearance from the shadows behind Jim. But tonight, Jim didn't jump as he typically would.

"What's the situation, Commissioner?" Batman greeted, skipping the handshake.

"It's Zsasz...he's back…" Jim answered, handing Batman photographs of a new crime scene.

In it, a woman sat on a bench, dressed like a schoolgirl, a balloon tied to her wrist, at a Gotham bus stop.

"A bus driver called this in, after he stopped to let her on, but she didn't move. He approached her and didn't get a pulse…" Jim explained.

"Something else on your mind, Jim?" Batman asked after the silence got chilling.

"I think he has my little girl, too, Batman…" Jim's eyes were welling up with tears. Batman was not a father, but he could sense all the fear in Jim's heart.

"What makes you think that?" Batman asked, inclining his head slightly.

"Barbara never made it home. I asked her date, Dick Grayson, if he knew where she was. He said they had an argument and she stormed away..he didn't go after her...punk ass kid...If my Barbara is hurt, I'll…" Jim didn't let himself continue. Batman figured that as being the best thing.

"Focus, Jim. Barbara can't be helped if you allow your emotions to cloud your judgement. What else makes you think he has her?" Batman tried to calm him.

"This victim. About the same height, weight, and age as Barbara. Several of his past victims have been too. Sick bastard gets off on this."

"I'll look into it. In the meantime, I need you to breathe. I'll let you know if I find something." Batman turned to leave, but hesitated for a moment.

"Jim."

"Batman?"

"Promise me that you will not do anything reckless."

"I swear it."

"Why don't I believe you?"

Jim held up his badge.

"With every ounce of sincerity I hold in this badge...I promise I will not do anything reckless."

"For Barbara's sake?"

"For Barbara's sake…."

And with that, Batman dived from the rooftop and Jim could hear his cape expand, and he saw the winged figure glide away.


	6. Chapter 6

Barbara listened that night to the howling crying of everyone in the darkness. It was cloudy now, and the vague moonlight was gone.

"Thanks for not puking in my hair." A tough sounding voice said.

Barbara couldn't see her, of course.

"You're welcome…?" Barbara said, straining to look for her.

"Yeah, I wouldn't bother trying to see. It's a miracle you can hear me, Barbara, over all this screaming. Nice dress, by the way. Or it was, I guess." The voice said.

Barbara?

"You know who I am?"

"The commissioner's daughter, right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, I know who you are. Do you know who I am?"

"I don't."

"For your sake and mine, that's a very good thing. But since it looks like we'll be together for a bit, you can call me D." The voice said. Odd. She didn't seem scared. How?

"Alright, D. Um...what brings you here?"

"Probably a van. I never really got a look at it. Chloroform has a way of doing things like that." D snarked.

"Yeah, me too. How long have you been in here?" Barbara tried to conversate. But she still had that fear, in spite of herself.

"Days? Weeks? Zsasz didn't give us a clock in here, that jerk."

Barbara managed a small chuckle.

"Tell me now, what's the police commissioner's little girl doing in a dump like this?"

Barbara tried to hide her worry in the shadows, assuming D wasn't all seeing. Was D picking up that she had a reason to be here? And if she decided to tell D the truth, how did she know she could trust somebody she couldn't even see?

"Whatever Zsasz has in mind for us, I guess. Any idea where here is, anyway?" Barbara said, trying to get as much info out of D as she could. Maybe her name would come along at some point.

"Well, given the amount of scared screaming girls in here, we must be somewhere where nobody can hear it all. Where nobody would happen to be passing by and stumble on it. I say somewhere in either the abandoned areas of what's left of the Narrows, or somewhere else in the East end districts. But...there's also the chance that we aren't even in Gotham anymore."

"What I'm hearing is that we could be anywhere."

"Pretty much."

"So why hasn't he killed us yet? Is it all random?"

"I'm not sure either. Could be he wants to ransom you off at some point. No way Gotham would rest easy if Gordon's daughter bites it, so they'd pay a King's ransom for your release."

"Yeah, but does Zsasz really care about money?"

"Everyone does, somehow."

"Well, I think he's coming. We'd better stop talking about him."

"Pleasure to meet you, Barbara."

"You too, D.


	7. Chapter 7

"Stupid." Bruce had seldom used the word with him.

"Careless." That one was more common.

"How could you let her do this?" Bruce's tone was piercing, and the look in his icy blue eyes even more so.

"I didn't "let" her do anything!" Dick snapped back.

"But you didn't stop her?" Bruce was uncomfortably close now.

Dick didn't know what to say back this time...but he knew Barbara. Well enough to know that once Barbara Gordon's mind was made up, that was the end of it. From what he'd observed of Commissioner Gordon, he was the same way.

So too was Batman.

"We'll have to act fast to save her...if there's still a Barbara to save…" Bruce growled.

"All of Zsasz's known victims were last spotted between Robinson Park and the Founder's district." Bruce calculated, staring down at the map.

"That's over 30 miles of land. That doesn't help much." Dick shrugged, holding his head in his hand.

"Geographically, it doesn't. But the population density is worth something. Less than two thousand citizens in that area. Less populated would make it easier for Zsasz to move around and stalk his prey...and take them back...there." Bruce's finger settled on a warehouse.

"Barbara…" Dick whispered.

"If she's alive, we'll get her out of there. We'll get her out, then we'll take down Zsasz...and then the three of us are going to have a long discussion about protocol. Understand?" Bruce squeezed Dick's shoulder and pulled the cowl over his face.

Dick nodded and donned his mask, and the two of them boarded the Batmobile.

The ride there was silent, save for the hum of the Batmobile's engine, and the rumbling of underdeveloped street beneath its tires.

When they got there though, the streets were filled with gunfire, bouncing off of the Batmobile...heavy rounds...armor piercing…

"Batmobile armor failure imminent." The computer warned, it's voice modeled after Barbara.

"Batmobile armor failure imminent." It repeated.

"We'll need to come back later." Batman shouted over the gunfire.

"But what about Barbara?!" Robin interjected.

"We can't help her if we can't break through, Robin! Boost auxiliary power to the shields. They won't hold much longer." Batman ordered.

Robin did as commanded, but every little instinct in his mind was demanding he eject, break in, and save Barbara himself...but his logical side knew that was a suicide run.

In a matter of moments, the Batmobile was clear of fire.


	8. Chapter 8

Barbara twitched at the sound of the gunfire outside. She had almost been asleep, but now there wasn't a chance. The noise reignited the screaming women...whichever day it was...she hadn't slept yet…but alongside the cracking of the guns, she heard the roar of a familiar car…

Batman had found them.

"D, are you there?" Barbara asked, calmly as she could manage.

No response.

Barbara stretched her arm as far as she could and tapped the woman next to her, on what felt like leather.

"D, hello?"

"Yeah? Sorry, I was meditating." D answered, her voice missing that snarky edge.

"Meditation? Now?" Barbara had never thought it possible to meditate during such chaos.

"My sensei always emphasized the importance of meditation during panic. Even during combat. With meditation comes control, and that's the key to combat and conflict."

D was interesting, for someone who was practically invisible. Even in the daytime, she had maintained a spot in the shadows.

"Did you hear that noise outside? The guns? The car?" Barbara asked, trying to hide she was still trying to get a good look at D.

"Yeah...somebody knows we're here."

"Not just somebody...Batman…" Barbara explained.

"And how do you know that?"

"The sound of the car...the car is the Batmobile." Barbara could feel her senses slipping away. Sleep deprivation was kicking in.

"And you know the sound of the Batmobile, because, what, you're Batgirl?"

Barbara froze.


	9. Chapter 9

"Don't worry. I won't tell anybody. Not like anybody can hear us but each other anyway. Let me guess, you got yourself captured so you can take Zsasz down from the inside, yeah?" D reasoned.

"Yeah...as secretive as you are about who you are, I'm guessing you have the same idea?" Barbara answered.

"Very good observation...of course, now Batman's on our trail…" D said, the snark in her voice returning slowly.

Barbara shook her head. "The way the Batmobile took off, Zsasz and his boys must have access to armor piercing rounds. It can only take so much."

"Which begs the question, where would a low life creepbag like Zsasz get that kind of hardware?" D added.

"Exactly. Zsasz isn't working alone. Somebody has bigger plans for all of us." Barbara closed her eyes and focused her hearing as best she could.

"_Bat...us...Ro….nis...meet…"_

Barbara threw those pieces around in her mind, hoping to make sense of it.

"Batman being involved in this throws things off. He's got them scared." D said.

Barbara could only nod.

"You didn't seem surprised when you figured out who I am...you knew already, didn't you?" Barbara was kicking herself for letting it be however obvious it was...she could only hope D was really on her side.

"You were a lot calmer than anybody else your age would be. Even the police commissioner's daughter should be completely terrified, kicking and screaming...The one right in front of you? She used to be a yoga instructor. The one next to her, a cop, and then on the other side, a psychiatrist. All of them usually have to be calm by nature, but the minute they got dumped in here? You'd never be able to tell." D paused. "And the red hair."

"Right. And a girl who spends her nights as a masked vigilante knocking down losers with red hair tends to stick out during these situations?" Barbara chuckled.

"Bingo."

"What do you usually do, D? When you're not chained up in a strange building, that is." Barbara once again hoped to unlock a clue.

"I was a singer. Used to perform in Roman Sionis's clubs."

Barbara sighed. She didn't know enough about singers to be able to pick out who this one was. Had she been a writer though, she would've probably been able to pick out a writing style from how D spoke, and match it up with what she'd read.

Wait, that was it. A bit of what Barbara had heard from the distance.

Roman Sionis was involved in this…

"D, I've got it. The higher power here is Sionis." Barbara gasped.

"And you know that because, what, you're Batgirl?" D cracked.

"Funny. No, I heard someone say his name earlier. He gave Zsasz the ammo to keep Batman away." Barbara explained.

"But...what would Sionis want with all of these women? Unless…" D's voice shook now.

"My god...he's going to sell them…" Barbara answered.


	10. Chapter 10

Dick's fist impacted the table for the third time since they'd been back in the Batcave.

Alfred knew what Master Grayson had been going through now. He'd experienced nearly the very same terror back in his days of service with the British secret service, when his girlfriend had infiltrated a mob in the underbellies of London, and gone dark for a month. Yes, Alfred knew just what he was going through, and he remembered how angry it would make him when his superiors told him that he needed to have patience, and faith that everything would be alright.

"We shouldn't have run away from it, Alfred. We should've kept going. We should've gotten her out of there." Dick's footsteps were slow and heavy, and his breathing was that of a man waiting for either the miracle of life, or the confirmation of death.

As much as Alfred hated to, he said "Patience, Master Grayson."

The look of disgust on Dick's face was the same one he'd seen on Bruce so many times before, whether it be as he grew up, or even now when Alfred would hit Bruce with a weapon even he was weak against: The truth.

"You sound like him, Alfred." Dick sneered.

"Be that as it may, sir, I have something that Master Bruce does not, and that is faith, sir. The faith that Ms. Gordon is capable of looking after herself. We must keep that faith in both Batgirl...and Barbara Gordon." Alfred said, pulling Dick in for a comforting hug.

He hadn't been able to do that with Bruce, but he found Dick was more comfortable with gestures of affection. Frankly, it was a relief.

For the longest while, Dick said nothing.

But finally, "Alfred…"

"Sir?"

"She is pretty amazing, isn't she?"

"By far the greatest girl I've ever seen dress as a Bat, sir."

Dick chuckled, then looked down at the autographed polaroid picture Barbara had facetiously given him after he called her model material. The picture had her making the ugliest, silliest face imaginable, eyes wide, and tongue hanging out, and hair as messy as her bedroom.

_Here's your model, love always, Barb_


	11. Chapter 11

"If Batman knows we're here, they're going to have to move us, and quick." D reasoned.

This wasn't the plan, Barbara kicked herself. She was supposed to have broken free by now. She'd escaped handcuffs and chains before, with and without a lock pick...but she did so with her Batsuit on...with the material on the wrists of her suit, it was damn near impossible to hold her in cuffs...but now, just ordinary Barbara Gordon at the mercy of a rich sociopath, and for all she knew, a necrophiliac.

Damnit, Barbara…

She was almost crying in frustration now, alongside the other women in this hell, scented by the soiled clothes of everyone there, and the blood still wet from Zsasz's bladework.

"Barbara, you there still?" D called out.

Barbara shook herself back to awareness. "Yeah...yeah I'm here."

"I can see a bit of a reflection around here. Like moonlight shining on glass...some engines too."

Barbara could see the reflections too...and just barely, she could make out that D had blue eyes. "Sounds like trucks?" Barbara observed.

"Trucks. Lots of them. They aren't wasting time. Any second now, we'll be herded into them. Keep your cool." D warned.

As if in reply, a gunshot echoed from the front of the room. Women's screams followed.

"Pipe the hell down! Now!" A man shouted, dim light coming through the doorway.

"There are some very nice people I have across the waters...old friends of the Sionis family...they want to give you new homes...And they want to give me a whole helluva lot of money to help ya get there safe and sound...Ah, come on, ladies, smile…"

The man chuckled. Barbara couldn't imagine that anybody in the room was smiling.

"I said SMILE you rotten bitches!" He demanded. The light revealed to Barbara who the creator of her nightmare was.

Black Mask.

"I do have a question…" Sionis said as he surveyed the now reluctantly smiling women, then settled on Barbara.

"Which of you is going to make Black Mask the most money?"

"Leave her alone, tar-face." Barbara heard D say.

Black Mask turned his attention to D. "You got somethin I should hear from you?!" He demanded.

Barbara wondered if even Sionis could see her.

"I...I'm sorry! Just lean in and I'll tell you where she's been keeping her lock pick…." Barbara heard D say. She was toying with Sionis now. The only one who didn't know was Sionis.

Barbara could see Mask lean his head into the shadow where D's mouth must have been.

In an instant, Barbara saw Black Mask stumble backward, holding his ears. What the hell did D tell him? Barbara almost didn't want to know.

"It's about to get ugly, Babs." D said, when Barbara saw Black Mask stumble.

"Kill her!" Black Mask commanded Zsasz.

"Finally." Zsasz sighed, and raised his knife.

"No!" Barbara called out.

"Wait!" Sionis interjected.

Barbara, Zsasz, and she could only presume, D, gave Sionis a confused glance.

"Keep it nonlethal, Mr. Zsasz...if that's who I think it is...She may be the biggest money maker on the ship…just keep her quiet and let's get a move on. We're on a clock here…" With that, Black Mask fired his gun into the air again. "Load 'em up, boys!"


	12. Chapter 12

The back of the truck was almost as dark as the warehouse. Every bump, and there were plenty, gave Barbara a headache. In the brief bit of moonlight as they were being loaded, she still hadn't been able to get a look at D. But she felt so hazy now, she wasn't entirely sure that D ever existed. She wasn't answering when she called out, and there would've been no use looking for her. And yet, she called one more time.

"D! D, are you here?" Barbara called.

Nothing.

If D was real...she must've been in one of the other trucks.

Barbara could hear the engines roaring almost as much as she could hear the chains on her and the others clinking.

Confident as she was at the start of all of this, she was hoping to hear the sound of the Batmobile join in the chorus to bring an ironic soprano of hope to the baritone and bass of futility.

Barbara still wasn't sure how long it had been. Seeing the sun was scarce in Gotham City, even less so when you're locked in a warehouse.

Typically she could just barely make out the glimmer of the moonlight, but right now, she could also make out something else...a knife, shaking in the hands of a woman.

"D…?" Barbara asked.

The crying woman took her eyes off the knife and planted them on Barbara.

"Who the hell is D?" She returned.

"Sorry…" Barbara murmured. "Wrong girl.."

"Isn't that how it always is? Wrong place, wrong time...wrong girl…?" The woman was angry, her voice shaking with it through tears.

Barbara could see the knife twist around in the woman's hand, aiming around to her wrist.

"You about to pick the lock? I don't know if that knife would do it. Might just hurt yourself." Barbara warned.

"That's the damn point!" The woman said as she dug the knife into her wrist.

Barbara could see blood starting to drip from the woman's arm. The red was just barely visible in the moonlight.

"No!" Barbara yelled.

The woman stopped and growled. "What, are you going to give me that speech about having too much to live for, or finding help and hope?"

"It sounds like you've heard it all before…" Barbara's voice softened.

"8 times...same knife too…same wrist…" The woman said.

"How did you get that in here anyway? They didn't search you?" Barbara asked.

"I...don't want to talk about it…"

Barbara grimaced, not that the woman could see it well.

"You going to say anything else, or can I get on with it?" The woman snarled.

"I can't stop you...but...do you think I could get to know you for a bit?" Barbara was crying a bit. In her earlier days as Batgirl, she'd dealt with a suicidal boy...she'd said the wrong thing...he jumped...she'd been in such shock she hadn't been able to fire a grapnel line to grab him.

It was that night that Barbara started to question her worth as a hero, not to mention of the super variety.

"What…?" The woman said, relieving some of the pressure on the knife.

Good, Barbara thought. I've bought some time.

"I just...I like to get to know people after I've confused them with someone else...helps me avoid making the same mistake a second time...how about your name?"

"Pandora…" the woman said.

Barbara smiled at the name. She was a sucker for Greek.

"Pandora...I love that...the name means "gift" if I remember right...My name is Barbara." She greeted, warmly as she could manage.

"Hi, Barbara…"

"Do you have family, Pandora?"

"I used to...I had…" Her voice was breaking again. "I had two little girls...Destiny and Hope…Destiny was 8, Hope was 6…" Crying now.

Barbara listened.

"My fiance left me a little bit after Hope was born...he met somebody on a business trip to Star City...next thing I knew I was "the wrong girl for him"...I guess our daughters were the wrong damn girls too...left me in Gotham to raise them all by myself…" Pandora's voice was full of anger.

"Are they waiting for you at home, Pandora?" Barbara asked.

"No...they're dead...they were killed 3 weeks ago during...during a riot by Two Face's men at the courthouse...I was there to sue my ex...try and make a bit of money to support myself and my girls...I didn't know Two Face was there…" Pandora cried.


	13. Chapter 13

THREE WEEKS AGO…

Batman, Robin, and Batgirl released their grapnel lines on rooftops adjacent to the courthouse and scattered to cover.

Batgirl peaked around a corner, and saw the group of thugs looking down on the courthouse.

"When are we gonna get the boss out?" One asked, impatient.

_Never,_ Batgirl wanted to say.

"As soon as we get the signal. I'm pretty damn sure we talked about this already. As soon as his man in there throws a penny out of the window, we get down there and spring the boss." Another answered.

"Robin, are you getting this?" Batgirl asked.

"Loud and clear, babe." Robin answered.

"Codenames, Robin." Batman growled.

"Loud and clear...Batgirl." Robin corrected himself.

Batgirl shook her head, and winded the bolo launcher on her gauntlet.

She rolled to a different cover and looked down into the alleyway. There was Robin, ducking behind a dumpster, smoke pellets at the ready.

She looked into the distance, across the rooftops, and she could see Batman perched atop a water tower. "Robin, keep an eye on the windows. When you see their signal, that's when we move." Batman ordered.

"Understood." Batgirl whispered.

"Got it." Robin affirmed.

The penny flew.

"Now!" Robin called.

In an instant, Batgirl launched her bolo, Robin tossed his smoke pellets, and Batman spread his cape and descended on a group of thugs.

As smoke enveloped the courthouse, Robin charged closer.

He extended his staff and went to work on the thugs approaching the court.

Meanwhile, Batgirl had her own group to deal with. 7 men total, and the one with the gun was already wrapped up. 6 hostiles remaining.

Batgirl hurled 3 batarangs at the group, knocking 3 thugs off balance.

She jumped from her cover and rolled into the center. As she rose, she spun and planted her heel into one of their skulls, then she caught another's fist, and slung herself beneath his legs, flipping him over, and delivering a knockout blow to the face.

Gracefully getting to her feet, she slammed her armored elbow into the back of another's head, dropping him instantly.

The one she'd kicked earlier was back for more. She launched another batarang at him, then jumped toward him, planting her boots into his chest, and backflipping off, and making her landing on the back of another, taking him to the cold rooftop. She could hear a bone or two crack. She almost enjoyed it.

The last two had knives. Batgirl had expected as much, and prepared for as much. She made distance between herself and the thugs, then pulled a pair of stun guns from her belt, and fired at the blades of the knives, sending a jolt of electricity down them, and through the bodies of the thugs.

The jolt was powerful enough that it put one down, and launched the other off of the edge of the rooftop.

"Damnit." Batgirl whispered.

She launched herself over the edge, cape instinctively spreading into wings like a bat.

She fired one grapnel line at the thug, and it wrapped around him. She fired another at a fire escape, and swung herself onto it. She wrapped the other line around the fire escape and let herself free. Batgirl savored the cathartic sight of the thug hanging upside down from the line, just suspended above the ground. She savored it even more when she cut the line, almost harmlessly dropping him to the ground.

"Mine are done. Robin? Batman?" Batgirl asked over the comms as she caught her breath.

"Batgirl! Two Face has hostages inside! You'll need to get inside and take him down and rescue the hostages. There's a vent shaft on the roof. That's your way in. Robin, keep Two Face's men out of there." Batman's voice was urgent.

"Right." Batgirl said as she made her way to the roof.


	14. Chapter 14

Batgirl uncovered the vent, and slid down. She wasn't a fan of getting dust in her hair, but there wasn't time to care.

She crawled through the shafts and activated her sensors in her cowl, then scanned the building for Two Face's heat signature. Locked on.

She made her way to his location and looked down on him. Invisible.

Or so she thought.

Two Face wiped something from his face...a hair.

"Batgirl!" Two Face yelled, looking up.

Smooth, Barb.

"Come down from there, Batgirl." Harvey Dent requested.

"Only if you promise not to hurt those people." Batgirl answered, still annoyed with herself.

Harvey flipped his coin, and Batgirl hated to watch it.

"New deal, Batgirl." Two Face said. "You come down from there, or I kill them all."

Batgirl sighed and dropped down.

Two Face trained his gun on Batgirl.

"What do you want, Harvey?" Batgirl asked, keeping her hands in sight.

"I want a letter of resignation from every judge in this building. Every single one!" Two Face demanded.

"What did they do to you? Aside from put your ass back in Arkham." Batgirl asked, half grinning.

"Nothing in particular, I guess." Harvey said. "I guess, wrong place, wrong time." Two Face finished.

Batgirl locked eyes with a woman and her children. Two little girls.

"It'll be alright, ladies...I promise. You're not getting anything here Harvey. Even if you did get those letters, they'd never take. I know you know how the law works. Whatever happens here, you lose. You'll gain nothing. Put that gun down and come quietly." Batgirl's smile was gone now. Lost in the tension.

Two Face flipped his coin.

Heads.

"Alright, Batgirl...I'll go…" Harvey said.

Two Face flipped again.

"But not quietly!" Two Face roared. He fired the gun and hit Batgirl, knocking her off of her feet.

He flipped his coin twice, too fast for Batgirl to see.

Harvey Dent's face grimmaced, but Two Face smiled.

As two shots rang out, Batgirl saw Batman's cape envelop Two Face, and she heard the sound of a woman screaming in anguish.


	15. Chapter 15

"Pandora...I'm sorry…" Barbara said, remembering the incident as Pandora told her.

"That wannabe lawyer sentenced me to a life without my baby girls...and what's worse? That deadbeat bastard couldn't even be bothered to show up…" Pandora cried again. "And Batgirl? My babies looked up to her! She was their hero, and Batgirl let them die!"

Barbara froze.

"I'm not going to be the one to tell you the speech about hope…" Barbara started. "But your girls...you have to live for them...because deep down, I've got the feeling that even more than Batgirl...your daughters looked up to you...they'd want to see mommy keep going...to keep fighting...Batgirl wears a mask, but you show your face to the world, no mask, no cape...just a Mom doing what she can to save the day…"

"Please. Kids don't want mommy. They want Batman, and Robin, and Batgirl. That's all kids want!" Pandora was angrier now.

"Maybe that's what they wanted as children...but where it matters, in their hearts, they just want to see Mommy keep fighting, doing what she knows how...never giving up...so don't give up now, Pandora...for Destiny and Hope." Barbara was still crying a little, but she tried to make her words sound more powerful than what she felt.

Pandora fell silent, save for some sniffeling.

"And...I know that Batgirl regrets that day...if she could take it back, she would." Barbara said.

"And you know that how?" Pandora asked, calmer now.

"I...happen to know her…" Barbara hoped she was a good enough liar to fool Pandora.

"Well...if you see her again...if we ever get out of this...tell her thank you...for giving my daughters someone to believe in when they realized Mommy can't always save the day…" Barbara could feel Pandora smiling.

The knife clinked to the metal below.

Barbara let herself smile, but she could only hope that she had made amends to the boy...and to Destiny and Hope.

The smile vanished when the truck came to a stop.


	16. Chapter 16

As moonlight filled the trailer, Barbara could see a handful of things for the first time. None of which were very pleasant. She saw Zsasz twirling a knife, she saw smog, and a boat...and she saw Black Mask coming.

"The special one is being taken to the captain's quarters, Mr. Sionis." Zsasz reported.

"Good. Gas her up, make sure she stays under till we can get her entirely under control. But don't damage the merchandise too bad. Need as much money as we can get out of her." Sionis ordered.

Special one? They have to mean D, Barbara reasoned. But what was so special about her? Whatever it was, Barbara was about to find out. If she was going to make a move, now was the time.

Barbara looked to Pandora. "I've got a plan...ask the one next to you if she has a hairpin. Keep it going till we find one."

Pandora nodded, and whispered to the woman next to her.

Finally, a hairpin was passed up to Barbara and she tucked it into her dress.

"Get them onboard. We've got a schedule to keep here." Black Mask demanded.

"When we get on the ship, stay close to me...I'll get us out of here." Barbara told Pandora.

Pandora looked to Barbara with uncertainty.

"This time it'll be okay...I promise." Barbara reassured her.

"No." Pandora said. "I promise...for my girls."

Barbara gave a smile and a nod, and Black Mask's men herded them all on.

Barbara casually fiddled with her dress until she got the hairpin free. Almost effortlessly she picked the lock, but before she could do anything else, she heard a very...unique sound, accompanied by shattering glass and screaming.

"Alert! Alert! She's free! Somebody help!" A man on the PA called.

"Damn...Damnit, NO!" Black Mask yelled, pulling his gun.

Barbara had heard the sound before…

"There she is! Get her!" A thug called out, but just as soon, a black combat boot kicked his gun away, and a black fingerless glove impacted his throat, and the black boot came back around and struck his head.

There was still a lot of smog, too much for Barbara to see the figure's face. It flipped forward, landing another solid kick on the next thug. It rolled backward, just barely dodging a bullet, and coming up, the figure knocked the gun away with an elbow strike, then followed through with an elbow strike to the face, then followed that with a palm strike, and finally a side kick.

"Barbara!" The figure called.

"D, is that you?" Barbara answered.

"Yeah, it's me. You okay?" D asked.

"I'm fine. Looks like you are too." Barbara approached.

"Behind you!" Barbara warned, and threw a fire extinguisher at the thug behind D.

"Thanks." D said, and started to step out of the fog.

One combat boot after the other.

One fishnet after the other.

One glove after the other, arms covered by a leather jacket, put over a blue shirt, tucked into a black studded belt.

D had blue eyes, as Barbara had noted before, and blonde hair, with a beautiful, tough face, covered in dirt and bruises and cuts.

"Black Canary…?" Barbara said, mouth agape.

"Guess the secret's out." Black Canary answered. "Now help me wrap this up, yeah?"

Barbara nodded, then angled her head toward Pandora and the women in chains. "What about them?"

"Cover your ears, Babs."

Black Canary dropped her foot back, inhaled, and let out her Canary Cry, and held it for a while.

Within moments, the chains broke, and the women were free.

"You all get to safety. Barbara, cover me while I free the rest." Canary ordered.

"Thank you!" The women shouted in near unison, and with repetition.

Pandora hadn't left yet.

"Batgirl!" She yelled.

Barbara snapped her head around to her.

"Thank you.." Pandora said.

Barbara nodded. "Go!"


	17. Chapter 17

Canary finished freeing the women, and joined Barbara in clearing out Black Mask's men.

Barbara had been using a piece of metal as a weapon, but it was starting to become useless.

Canary let out another mighty cry, and sent another group of men overboard.

"You see Sionis anywhere?" Barbara asked.

As if in reply, they heard the sound of a motor revving, and they could see Black Mask riding a boat into the Gotham night.

"He didn't take Zsasz with him?" Black Canary observed.

"No honor among sociopaths." Barbara snarked.

Barbara and Canary searched the vessel, room by room...finally, they got to the brig.

As Canary opened the door, Zsasz's blade came from nowhere, and slashed Canary's glove, and opened her flesh.

"Damn!" Canary growled.

Barbara ducked under Zsasz's knife, and slammed her knee into his back, launching him forward, into Black Canary's waiting fist.

He stumbled backward, then Barbara took him to the ground, and KO'd him.

They handcuffed him and dragged him back to shore….and found Batman and Robin waiting.

Robin was quick to hug Barbara, nearly crushing her.

She knew better than to try and hug Batman, but she wished he'd have been happier to see her.

"Hey." Canary grinned at Batman.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Batman snarled at Barbara.

"We needed to bring Zsasz down, and we did that." Barbara snipped back. She knew this argument would come, but she'd hoped she'd get a few minutes to breathe first.

Robin turned his head away. "Dick, what are you doing? Help me out here. You helped with this idea, remember?" Barbara demanded.

Robin was quiet still.

"You could've gotten yourself killed, Barbara. What would I have told your father then, if I found YOU posed for some fantasy?" Batman's voice shook, and Barbara teared up at the thought of her father losing the only thing he had left.

But what Batman needed to understand, what surely he DID understand, is that if there was a chance she could stop the same thing happening to other people, no matter the cost, she had to take it.

"She was fine. She did amazing. She had it under control." Black Canary interjected.

"But you were there, Dinah! What if you hadn't been? What if Barbara had been on her own?!" Batman got closer to Black Canary.

"Back it up there, Batman." Canary snarled.

"It was worth every risk to bring down that bastard! I thought you of all people would understand that!" Barbara snapped.

"You're done." Batman said, turning away from them.

"Excuse me?" Barbara gasped.

"I said...you're done. There is no Batgirl anymore." Batman explained.

"She doesn't need you anyway." Black Canary snipped. Her tone was sharp enough to cut even Barbara.

"What are you talking about?" Batman turned his attention back to them.

"She can be my partner now. Partner, Bruce. Not my sidekick, not my pet, and not my lackey. Barbara, grab your batsuit from the cave tomorrow and meet up with me. We've got work to do to figure out who Sionis was trying to sell those women to. That is...unless Batman wants to try and stop us?"

Black Canary took a step toward Batman.

Batman glared in silence.

"Didn't think so. Good work, Batgirl. See you soon." Canary said, then ran into the night.

"Barbara, I…" Robin started.

"Just don't, Dick. Just don't."

Barbara turned back to where Batman had been standing, but he was gone. In his place came Jim Gordon's GCPD car, and before she knew it she was in her father's arms, feeling his tears rolling down her neck and back.

"Barbara…" He could only say.

"I know, Daddy...I shouldn't have drank the punch…"

THE END….?


End file.
